Ecuador
The Galapagos Islands and Ecuador are home to incredible wildlife, such as the famous
Galapagos Turtle and the lesser known, but more common Red Rock or Sally Lightfoot
crab (pictured). Begin Your Journey!

Chile
The Andes dominate much of Chile, including the breath-taking Torres del Paine National
Park (pictured). However, the country also hosts the world's driest desert and
a thriving metropolis. Begin Your Journey!

Bolivia
This hidden gem is full of surprises, from the impressive salt flats (pictured)
to the migrating flamingos. It also clings to the most historic indigenous culture
on the continent. Explore Bolivia!

History of Suriname

The first people to arrive to the region that is today Suriname
is unknown. Estimates date the first people to have arrived sometime between about
13,000-3000 BC, which is a huge range. If nothing else, what this says about the
region is that very little is known of the first settlers and little is known about
their descendants and later arrivals. None of these people had a recorded history
so what is known about this time is severely limited.

Among the earlier settlers of the region, one group was the Arawaks, who lived off
the land as hunters, gatherers, and fishers. They lived a nomadic lifestyle, but
little else is known about them. Another group, the Caribs lived in a similar manner
and again settled along the coast, which they eventually took over from the Arawaks.
Both groups were heavily dependent on the Caribbean Sea and both eventually settled
the Caribbean islands; in fact the Caribbean Sea is named after the Caribs, who
occupied the islands when the Europeans arrived.

There were also indigenous groups of people that lived further inland, however the
dense forestation of the region meant travel and communication inland was difficult
so contact between these various groups was very limited. No matter the group, these
people had very different languages, customs, houses, dress, and lifestyles. The
major similarities came in the fact that they all lived off the land and they were
sparsely populated.

Although the land that now makes up Suriname was spotted
by a number of explorers, likely many Spanish explorers, the
first to make any attempt at settling the area came with the
British in the 1630s. The British sought the land for its potential to grow
crops, including tobacco. The settlement was a failure at first, but the British
continued to attempt to settle the lands as they were quite fertile. They eventually
had limited success, but this came at the expense of slave labor.

Despite early British settlement attempts, the indigenous
people changed little until the British introduced slavery in order to increase
their agricultural production. They enslaved many of the indigenous people, but
more commonly brought in slaves from Africa; with them came
new foods, languages, dress, and customs. The British also encouraged free labor
to immigrate by granting freedom for all voluntary settlers.

This settlement not only changed the culture, it also changed the ethnic dynamic
as the African slaves and indigenous people (many of whom
were free, but living inland) greatly outnumbered the British
population. Despite this, it was the British who controlled the economy and political
framework.

In 1667 the Dutch easily took over the region as the
British had no true defense on the lands. Despite
resistance and some later battles, the British and Dutch came to an agreement, which
allowed both countries to settle the region, although in reality this marked a shift
in power from the British to the Dutch.

While the British held little value on the land and
few ethnic British settled, the Dutch encouraged settlement
and made the region one of their strongest footholds in the Americas. This divide
later separated the lands into what is today Suriname (which
the Dutch essentially controlled) and what is today Guyana
(which the British essentially controlled).

The Dutch continued the trend of slavery and agriculture into the 1700s as they
grew cotton, coffee, cocoa, and sugarcane among others. They also continued bringing
in slaves from Africa, while the economy expanded as it relied
heavily on trade with the Netherlands.

Although the economy was improving, the individual land owners struggled as slaves
often escaped the plantations. Many of these escaped slaves had nowhere to flee
to except the nearby forests, which were dense. These escaped African
slaves began a new culture in the forests as they were called "maroons"
as they regularly raided the plantations for supplies and people.

This division among the people, between the native people, the maroons, the slaves
in captivity, and the Dutch was quite pronounced. Each
developed, or maintained, a unique culture over time with an entirely different
focus and way of life. As more slaves were brought into the country the slave and
maroon culture began to become the most populous, although these people had no economic
or political control.

The end of the 1700s and the early 1800s were a tumultuous time for
Suriname. In 1799 the British took over the
country as the Netherlands was pre-occupied with war
as France. The British legally freed the slaves, although
in reality they weren't granted freedom until 1873. However, at this time they
stopped bring in new slaves so their working population suffered and the Dutch turned
to Chinese, Indonesian, and
Indian (East Indian) immigrants for a new workforce.

Although the Dutch economic base in agriculture and
their control over the political system didn't change in the 1800s, the population
and dynamic did. Despite the fact that many of these new immigrants weren't
granted full rights, they, along with the former slaves, dominated the population
as they introduced new foods, languages, religions, and customs.

Into the 1900s this economic state continued, but there was more interest in the
land as gold and bauxite were discovered and the new labor force from
Asia provided much needed labor to exploit these mines. However political
stability was again a question as war broke out in Europe
and the Netherlands was occupied with World War I, then
World War II. During this time little attention was paid to Suriname
and at the end of World War II the people began demanding greater rights.

In 1945 Suriname had a primarily free election and in 1954
they gained self-rule, but not complete independence, which they didn't obtain
until 1975. Independence arrived with great growing pains and little optimism. Many
people, including most of the ethnic Dutch immigrated to the
Netherlands. Then the violence started as the early 1980s were riddled with
coups. By 1982 the government was run by a military dictatorship, which was killing
opposition party members without much hesitation.

The tensions have eased in recent years as free elections were held in 1985 and
have been held since, but political division and violence has not ended. These protests
seem to stem from control and culture as the maroons regularly initiate the protests
and the government regularly responds with violence.